Foxcroft Academy Sports Update: Football stuns Belfast, Girls soccer tallies two more wins, Bozzelli places well at State Golf Tournament

Girls soccer makes surge for playoffs with two more wins

The Foxcroft girls soccer team won two of their last three games to give themselves a chance at a playoff spot in the Class B North region.

The Ponies fell to Hermon on Monday, October 19, but defeated PCHS last week 9-1, led by Jenna Clukey and Cass Panciera, who had two goals apiece. Grace Bickford, Grace Francis, Avery Nelson, Julianna Richard, and Hannah Sprecher also added goals for the Ponies. The team’s dominating play limited PCHS to just 5 shots while the Ponies shot at will, placing 27 on net.

Their next game was a tighter contest, but the Ponies again prevailed. This time 1-0 over Old Town. Freshman Grace Francis scored the one goal that proved to be the game winner as goalie Kiara Prescott was a wall, denying 15 Coyote shots.

“This has been an amazing ride that we have been on,” said Coach Wesley. “I can’t wait to see how it ends as the playoffs are in our grasp. I am honored to be these girls’ coach.”

The Ponies, who won their first game since 2010, finished the season 6-8 and await the finalization of playoff seeds to see if they made the postseason.

Football erupts for 48 points, stuns Belfast

Foxcroft football’s game against Belfast last Friday, October 16, was a must-win game.

They won.

They won in convincing fashion, erupting for 48 points while limiting Belfast to just one score.

The Ponies, who lost lead playmaker Hunter Smith to injury during the preseason, have had to make changes on the fly throughout the season. What they have become is a multifaceted team with a plethora of contributors.

8 players scored points and 18 more made tackles on Friday.

Brandon Brock led the offense with 145 yards and a touchdown on just 8 carries. Quarterback Nick Clawson added 70 more and a score on the ground as well as 22 more and a score through the air to Jeremy Richard, who made an outstanding run after the catch, fighting through several Belfast players to the pylon. Evan Chadbourne took a reverse 69 yards to the house, Zachary Caron and David Salley also added rushing touchdowns, and Nate Church converted four PATs.

The Pony defense was just as balanced as 18 players made tackles. Leading the way was Billy Brock, who registered 10 tackles, a sack, and an interception returned for a touchdown. Brother Brandon had 7 tackles and a sack, and Caron, Salley, and Tanner Strout also added 11 tackles a piece.

Now at 3-4 with one regular season game remaining, the Ponies have kept their playoff dreams alive. Their next game and final regular season contest will be at John Bapst on Friday, October 23.

Bozzelli wraps up accomplished golf career with great finish at State Tournament

Saturday brought an official end to the FA golf season. Racquel Bozzelli ’16 traveled to Natanis Golf Club in Vasselboro, ME, to compete in the Maine Girls’ Individual Golf Championship.Racquel scored a 103, which placed her the middle of the tournament at 29th.Conditions were less than ideal with cold and windy weather.Coach Caruso complimented Racquel saying, “This is the 2nd consecutive season that Racquel has qualified for the state championship. A record to be proud of for sure. She will be missed on the links next season.”

The team’s regular season ended two weeks prior with the Ponies finishing 4th in the PVC Class B Championship played at The JATO Golf Course in Lincoln.Akira Tanabe ’17 paced the Ponies with a fine score of 91, just missing State Tournament qualification by 1 stroke.As a team, the Ponies were 8 strokes from qualifying.

Seniors Racquel Bozzelli and Michael (Xu) Wang will be leaving the Ponies and will be missed next season. Returning veterans along with Tanabe will be Sam Libby ’17, Henry Chase ’17, and Caleb Burger ’17.

Contributed by Coach Peter Caruso.

Clawson and Piquette place in top 20 at PVC Championship

The boys and girls cross country teams travelled to Lincoln Saturday, October 17, for the PVC Championship meet hosted by Mattanawcook Academy. Conditions were wet, and the temperature did not rise above 40 degrees, but the team that has preached guts and determination all season did not let the weather affect them, putting together perhaps their best performance of the season.

The boys varsity team averaged an outstanding 19:21 over the 3-mile course to take 4th overall in the Large School division with 108 points. The Ponies were led by Gabe Piquette, who passed six runners in the last 200 meters of the race to take 7th in the Large School division. Piquette’s time of 17:51 was the 16th fastest by any runner, any division on the day. Cooper Nelson was second for the Ponies running 18:49 for 15th place. Liam Casey, despite falling twice in the slippery conditions, was next Foxcroft in 19:56 (29th), leading a strong pack of Ponies. Rookie Nicholas Daneman was 31st in 19:56, and Paul Birtwistle was 32nd in 20:12. Foxcroft’s displacers Hunter Giacomuzzi (20:52) and Ethan Poland (22:14) also ran very well for the Ponies.

The girls varsity team, which placed as an unit for the only the second time since 2009, was led once again by Jen Clawson, who covered the course in an impressive 21:16. Her time was 13th best among all girls and 5th best in the Large School division to lead the girls team to a 6th-place finish. Jenna Clukey placed 33rd in 25:07, Alice Russo placed 43rd in 27:05, Virginia Macomber placed 45th in 27:32, and Su Kim placed 46th in 27:46 to round out the Pony scorers.

Next for Foxcroft is the Class B Regional meet on Saturday, October 24, where the Ponies will attempt to qualify as a team for the State Meet for the first time since their Coach, himself, was an athlete on the team. The Ponies will need to place in the top half as a team to qualify.

“At the beginning of the season, as a team, we established qualifying for the State meet as one of our two goals,” said Coach Pearsall. “For ten weeks now, every practice and every race has been a progression towards Saturday, where we hope to unleash our best races of the season. I think mentally and physically we are prepared. We just have to go out there and do it. Can’t wait for Saturday!”

Field hockey locks up 3rd seed, ready for playoffs

The Foxcroft field hockey team fell 1-2 to Old Town in their final regular season game but locked up the third seed in Class B North playoff bracket to earn a first round bye. Madison Fadley scored the only Foxcroft goal of the game when she collected a rebound off of the Coyote goalie’s shin guard and flicked the ball into the back of the cage with a resounding shot.

“All the girls played very well and played a hard 60 minutes,” said Coach Smith. “We had many opportunities to put the ball in the cage–I believe the paper recorded 17 shots on goal, but it seemed like more to me. I think it is a great segue into the playoffs.”

The Ponies will look to continue to crash the net on Wednesday, October 21, when they take on Belfast High School in the Northern Maine Regional quarterfinals. The game will be at Foxcroft at 3:00 pm.

Boys soccer looks to finish strong, breakout in playoffs

The 9-3-1 Foxcroft boys soccer team lost two close games last week.

The first loss came to MDI on October 13, in a back-and-forth game that saw six ties or lead changes. MDI opened the scoring but was quickly matched when Tobias Hogfeldt beat MDI’s goalie with a near-post shot. MDI pulled ahead with another goal, but again Foxcroft tied the game with a low strike from Chandler Rockwell. Just before half, MDI scored again to take a 3-2 lead that held for the remainder of the game as both teams’ defenses were able to minimize the offensive attacks of the other team. Logan Butera had 16 saves in net for the Ponies.

At Old Town, the Ponies lost a heartbreaker to the Coyotes. With just five minutes left in the game, Dylan Harmon-Weeks converted a penalty kick to force overtime, but the comeback was short-lived as the Coyotes scored a golden goal to end the game just two minutes into the first overtime period.

“It was a tough week for us,” said Coach Ayala, who stressed the need to increase intensity in practice in order to translate intensity into games. “It all starts at practice. We need to work hard and push ourselves to improve individually and as a team. In our last regular season game, we need to come out with pride and desire. We need to play with urgency in a fast and aggressive way.”

The Ponies wrap up their regular season at home on Tuesday with a game against Hermon. The Ponies are 9-3-1 and currently sit in 9th in the closely contested Class B North region.